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Verbal, visual, and spatial working memory demands during text composition

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 October 2008

THIERRY OLIVE ,
RONALD T. KELLOGG  and
ANNIE PIOLAT
THIERRY OLIVE*
Affiliation:
CNRS and University of Poitiers
RONALD T. KELLOGG
Affiliation:
Saint Louis University
ANNIE PIOLAT
Affiliation:
University of Provence
*
ADDRESS FOR CORRESPONDENCE Thierry Olive, Centre de Recherches sur la Cognition et l'Apprentissage—CNRS, Maison des Sciences de l'Homme et de la Société, 99 avenue du Recteur Pineau, F-86000 Poitiers, France. E-mail: Thierry.olive@univ-poitiers.fr
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Abstract

Two experiments examined whether text composition engages verbal, visual, and spatial working memory to different degrees. In Experiment 1, undergraduate students composed by longhand a persuasive text while performing a verbal, visual, or spatial concurrent task that was presented visually. In Experiment 2, participants performed a verbal or spatial concurrent task that was aurally presented. Writing performance was not disrupted differentially across the three tasks. Performance on all concurrent tasks showed fewer correct responses and longer RTs relative to single-task, baseline data. However, the demands on visual working memory were as high as those on verbal working memory, whereas demands on spatial working memory were minimal. The findings help to delineate the roles of the verbal, visual, and spatial working memory in written composition.

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Type
Articles
Information
Applied Psycholinguistics , Volume 29 , Issue 4 , October 2008 , pp. 669 - 687
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2008

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References

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